Hallettsville man joins fiddlers for a jam (w/video)

By
Bianca Montes
April 26, 2014 at 10:03 p.m.Updated April 26, 2014 at 11:27 p.m.

Earl Logue, 75, of Hallettsville, plays music with Randy Powell, of West Columbia, in a jam session outside of the Fiddlers' Frolic in Hallettsville. Both Logue and Powell have been coming to the Fiddlers' Frolic since it started in 1971.
Tess Freeman
for The Victoria Advocate

Jam with Earl

Earl Logue jams every Thursday night at the Old Moulton Bank, 101 Main St., in Moulton. The fun begins at 6:30 p.m.

HALLETTSVILLE - Earl Logue wasted no time picking up an acoustic guitar as the three men beside him began to jam Saturday afternoon outside the Knights of Columbus Hall.

He leaned his body in closer to his old buddy to the right, picking up his rhythm as his fingers slowly crossed the strings of the guitar to play an old favorite he loved.

And he sang softly.

Logue picked up the guitar more than 60 years ago when his parents bought it for him as a Christmas gift, and with the help of a neighbor writing down a few progressions on a sheet of paper, he taught himself how to play.

The music festival began in Hallettsville in 1971 when Clifford Fryer created it to raise money for the Knights of Columbus, his son said.

Fryer grew up listening to family play the fiddle, and the twangy instrument meant a great deal to him, according to his biography.

He never competed in the contest, though because he "would rather listen to others play."

The four-day event, which attracts about 10,000 people a year, began Thursday with a jam session and ends Sunday with several contests and a performance by The Scott Taylor Band.

Judging for the Texas State Championship Barbecue Cook-Off also will take place outside the event.

Logue started attending the festival 27 years ago when he got a transfer to Hallettsville from his job. Even though he retired from Shell about 22 years ago, he said he has no desire to leave the city.

Hallettsville is home.

It's the town where he can play good music with his buddies, hunt for treasures with his metal detector, fly his mechanical helicopters and settle down at night with his wife of 52 years.

Logue said his favorite part of Fiddlers' Frolic is hanging out with old friends and meeting new people. "I just love it here."